austerity measures

The citizens of Greece are not the only ones who have been watching the tense negotiations between the new government in Athens (led by the radical party Syriza) and the European Union (led de facto by the Germans). Not just in Europe, but everywhere in the world, people are watching with bated breath this most recent skirmish, part of a battle in what may turn out to be a protracted war between democracy and finance. Because this current struggle is really about much more than whether Greece should continue with its fiscal austerity programme or the contradictions of remaining within…

The Greece crisis resolution depends on whether the EU sees itself as a progressive project based on liberal market principles or as an imperialist project of finance capital. greece_international_creditors (Download the full text in PDF format) (The article was originally published in EPW, February 14, 2015 Vol. No 7)

Lynn Parramore: What do we need to know about economists and their relationship to power? Servaas Storm: In a brief moment after financial crisis, mainstream economists did some soul-searching and rethinking. But once the economy stabilized (somewhat) thanks to large-scale government support, most went back to “normal,” rebuilding their professional status as neutral technocratic advisors and portraying macroeconomists as mere engineers solving practical problems. This is a chutzpah. Macroeconomics starts off from vision, moral values, perspectives and ideology, which color any analysis and need to be disclosed and debated. This was clear in the old days to economists as diverse…

A memorandum, based on a 3-year research project, discussing possible ways out of prolonged stagnation and low growth due to recent crisis and austerity measures in EU. Charting_Ways_Out (Download the full text in PDF format) * This article is originally published by WIIW http://wiiw.ac.at/charting-ways-out-of-europe-s-impasse--a-policy-memorandum-p-3312.html

Egypt should refuse the IMF loan as the associated conditionalities would further push the neoliberal development model that has created much of Egypt’s problems. Egypt_ emergency_assitance (Download the full text in PDF format)

Analysing the Baltic republics’ response to the crisis of 2008–2011, the essay shows that the Baltic ‘model’ of crisis resolution cannot be replicated anywhere else in Europe. Crisis_2008_2011 (Download the full text in PDF format)

Contrary to public perception, austerity measures are not limited to Europe; in fact, it is in the developing world that many adjustment measures feature most prominently. Age_Austerity (Download the full text in PDF format)

All too often people in countries experiencing financial crisis are told that the road to recovery necessarily involves pain, that fiscal austerity and cuts in spending that adversely affect the lives of ordinary citizens are necessary costs of correction of macroeconomic imbalances and the consequent adjustment that is considered essential for recovery. This is repeated so often that it is now taken as received wisdom by policy makers and civil society alike – yet in fact it is not true at all. It can actually be plausibly argued that in several situations the reverse is correct, that attempts to reverse…

The financial crisis in Greece and the 'austerity measures' being imposed on the country has lead to disastrous results for the economy. Contrary to mainstream prescriptions that seek to bailout big financial institutions at the expense of the real economy, an alternative proposal that was originally proposed by the author has gained much credence. The ''Raffer Proposal'' (also known as the Fair Transparent Arbitration Procedure (FTAP)) has been endorsed and propagated by many noteworthy economists, NGOs, and the Jubilee Movement. This article espouses the basic tenets of the Proposal and explains how it can help resolve the Greek crisis. Implementing_Raffer_Proposal (Download…

The financial crisis in Greece and the ‘austerity measures’ being imposed on the country has lead to disastrous results for the economy. Contrary to mainstream prescriptions that seek to bailout big financial institutions at the expense of the real economy, an alternative proposal that was originally proposed by the author has gained much credence. The “Raffer Proposal” (also known as the Fair Transparent Arbitration Procedure (FTAP)) has been endorsed and propagated by many noteworthy economists, NGOs, and the Jubilee Movement. This article espouses the basic tenets of the Proposal and explains how it can help resolve the Greek crisis. Insolvency_Protection…